For the First Time in Two Years
by thegreatfog
Summary: When Bruce saw his room at the compound for the first time in two years he was surprised to find that it wasn't how he left it. He was missing some shirts and his is bed was unmade and his glasses were out of their case and they were on top of a book and that book was written in Russian.


BruceNatttt

When Bruce saw his room at the compound for the first time in two years he was surprised to find that it wasn't how he left it. He was missing some shirts and his is bed was unmade and his glasses were out of their case and they were on top of a book and that book was in _Russian_. No, it couldn't be, it had been too long, he had spent too much time away. But could it be? Could Nat really still adore him? And if she did, what did that mean?

Basic inference skills led him to believe that Nat had not only been stealing his shirts and glasses while he was away, but sleeping or at least reading in his bed as well. Could she have missed him that much?

Nat slowly made her way to Bruce's room she wasn't exactly embarrassed about what she had been doing but she wasn't exactly proud of it either. She sighed she hoped that Bruce still felt then same way about her as he did when he had left. If he didn't, their situation would become all entirely to awkward, something she wasn't looking forward to. She turned down the hall way and reached the threshold of his doorway. She hesitated a moment before gently pushing his lightly cracked down open.

"Nat," Bruce said shifting a bit uncomfortably, "Seems like my glasses would be a little hard to read in," he finished questioningly.

"No," Nat replied, moving her gaze from the floor to meet Bruce's eyes, "They're perfect."

Bruce hadn't been expecting her to say that, she had a vulnerability that was reserved for him and him only. It left him warm inside in a way that he could never be unless she was there with him.

It was awkward for a beat, Bruce was unsure of what to say next but as it turns out he didn't have too. Natasha broke the emptiness for him.

"I was, uh," she cleared her throat, "just coming to grab my book"

That wasn't what she really wanted to say, but she wasn't going to push him anymore than she already had. She motioned to grab the book when Bruce interjected.

"Wait don't go, Nat, Natasha I, I'm so sorry that I left you. I, I don't know what happened I didn't have any control over him. 2 years, 2 years as the Hulk and the the only thing that brought me back was you...Thor played your message on the quintet and, and..."

His voice broke and Nat moved to embrace him, she gently wrapped her arms around his midsection and enveloped in a warm hug.

"Shh it's okay. I still adore you," she said.

Bruce sighed and hugged her even tighter, he asked her to stay. And she did. She curled up in one of his t-shirts, grabbed his glasses and her book and found herself occupying the right side of his bed. Bruce settled into the left side and he inched himself closer to Nat until he found his head resting comfortably on her thigh. Natasha's fingered instinctively found themselves in his hair and Bruce relaxed enough to close his eyes.

A soft moment like this was all they needed to satisfy intimate touch. Sex was off the table. It was too much a danger with the Hulk lurking around. But Natasha didn't mind. She had spent too much of her life using her body to get information from her marks. She didn't think that she would ever consider that type of touch intimate anyway. This, this was intimate. She pushed Bruce's glasses snugly back onto her nose and gently moved the hand in his hair to caress his cheek. His eyes fluttered open at this shift in contact but he looked up at her and smiled pleasantly.

"Hey," Bruce whispered.

"Hey"

"You know at Clint's, that night in the farm with you, umm, that, that was the best I had slept in years," he confessed.

"Yeah, well I always sleep better in here," Nat replied.

"Speaking of which, I'm exhausted," She finished.

She set her book and his glasses on the side table and flicked off the table lamp. Bruce sat up so they could readjust and Nat wrapped her arms tightly around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"I'm so glad your back," She whispered.

"I don't want to be anywhere else," Bruce said before the both drifted off into the best sleep they had had in 2 years.


End file.
